Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Sunday morning.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Escalade in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised Escalade from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Escalade Price Performance

Shares of ESCA stock opened at $13.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $190.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17 and a beta of 0.69. Escalade has a 12 month low of $11.41 and a 12 month high of $16.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $13.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.74.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.09. Escalade had a net margin of 5.26% and a return on equity of 7.49%. The company had revenue of $67.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.83 million. Research analysts expect that Escalade will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Escalade Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 12th. Investors of record on Monday, January 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Escalade’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Escalade news, CFO Stephen Wawrin sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total value of $26,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 41,000 shares in the company, valued at $533,000. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard Fenton Baalmann, Jr. sold 5,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total value of $71,370.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 100,394 shares in the company, valued at $1,305,122. The trade was a 5.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,000 shares of company stock worth $156,100. Company insiders own 28.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Escalade by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 221,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,096,000 after purchasing an additional 4,455 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey bought a new position in shares of Escalade during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Escalade in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Escalade by 439.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 2,950 shares during the period. Finally, Certior Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Escalade in the third quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 65.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Escalade

Escalade, Inc is a U.S.-based manufacturer and distributor of recreational equipment and specialty products for both consumer and commercial markets. Headquartered in Evansville, Indiana, the company operates through two principal business segments: Sporting Goods and Commercial Products. The Sporting Goods segment encompasses a diverse range of products such as hockey and lacrosse goal assemblies, fitness accessories, archery and hunting gear, and table tennis equipment. The Commercial Products segment focuses on seating solutions for restaurants, hospitality venues and other public spaces under the Top Seat brand, as well as storage, display products and industrial carts.

Within Sporting Goods, Escalade markets its products under proprietary brands including Bear® Archery, Gene St.